Bahrain GP

The Bahrain GP is going to be a step into the unknown for all the Formula 1 drivers as they experience their first race with the 2022 cars and tyres.

"Realistically, we can't really compete pace-wise to the guys that are ahead of us," he says. So it will be an interesting one just to to get the experience on board." "Because we are actually able to follow closer, we don't need to open such big gaps to manage tyres, like we had to do in the past," he said. The deltas between each tyre compound are a second or more, and it will be a no-brainer for those in the front half of the grid to start on the softs. However, given all the circumstances a low-key evening would seem to be an unlikely outcome. So, they have to pay attention to start on the medium or the hard, although it is possible for somebody in the back. Maybe the hard is an option at the start for drivers that try a one-stop race, medium/hard." "So I don't know if it's clever to be that close. But it will be interesting how everything turns around, if you are able to say in the DRS zone. So I'm interested to see what happens, and what is the final effect when they are in real traffic." So when you follow too closely, you damage the tyres," said Fernando Alonso. Then how much the new aero package is affecting the car in the back, we will discover tomorrow.

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 in Formula 1's 2022 Bahrain season opener, having beaten Max Verstappen in a thrilling race-long battle before Red Bull ...

But he was only briefly ahead as Leclerc used DRS himself on the run to Turn 4, retaking first with a bold pass around the Red Bull's outside. Verstappen had used his outlap on fresh rubber to erase Leclerc’s lead completely, but the Ferrari was able to maintain the lead at the pit exit. Racing got back underway at the start of lap 51, all lapped cars having been allowed to overtake. But the next time by at the start of lap 17, Verstappen used DRS to close a 0.7s gap and dive to Leclerc’s inside at the first corner, taking the lead with a thrilling move on the inside line. At the end of lap 14, Verstappen and Sainz, who had also started on used softs, came in to take new ones, with Leclerc stopping at the end of the next tour to do the reverse. At the start, Leclerc and Verstappen shot off the line in unison, with the Ferrari quickly swinging across to his right to cover off the Red Bull and seal the inside line for the first corner.

With its sweeping new technical regulations, we knew 2022 could see a fresh F1 dawn – and so it proved in Bahrain, with a whole host of unexpected stats ...

• And with Fernando Alonso in P9, Alpine scored with both cars for the fourth time in the last five races. • Kevin Magnussen was P5 – only the 5th time a Haas has ever finished in the top five, and a comes after scoring zero points in 2021 and 3 points in 2020 • The winner of the opening race of the season has finished the championship as runner-up in every season since 2017.